This thread is an excellent idea.
My supervisor isn't pushy at all so I feel that I don't have a dead line....but my studentship has expired and I am digging in my savings: too bad.
I wanted to make it for March but it looks like I won't be able so it MUST be the summer deadline!
:-s determination is everything!
I just wish I could buy some in pills :-)

Congratulations Dunni for your full draft! I wish I was you :-) I'll get there too, hopefully before being old :-)

Yesterday's goal is uncompleted, I still need to finish to improve the paper that bounced back with referee's comments and requests. It takes me quite a lot of energy because it's a paper on a research topic different from my PhD subject. So I have to go back to papers that I read ages ago.

Have a productive day

Hi All,
as I need to regain some motivation I've decided to join you daily on this thread, hopefully it will help :-)
Today I need to deliver some changes on an article that has come back from a journal with the request of corrections/amendments.
It's the second time it comes back from the same reviewer, so hopefully this will be the last and it'll get published. It's a bit of a challenging task to make amendments to a paper which you thought was complete. I have to get it right though as I spent a long time already working on this paper.
Have a good day!

The goal for today was to grow significantly the writing of my literature review update and I have failed managing just a meagre new page.
I'm kind of getting more and more used to believe that this PhD wasn't for me but now that I've invested so much I have to finish it unfortunately...sorry for the bitter rant
Hope your day was better :-)

Hi,
for my knowledge you won't be able to change supervisor if he is the grant holder which sponsors your PhD studentship. This was the case for me; but you might be lucky and you might get the change, I would speak with the director of your department to have advice.

I am not sure about the second questions but it sounds a lot if you have to do 100h teaching. In that case I think that you should get a paid contract as teaching fellow. Preparing classes can be very time consuming if you have to do your own material. If you get all the material from who run the course the previous year than it's easier but you still need to read it carefully and rehearse your lecture.
Good luck

Hi,
Thank you all for the advice.

I have taken some initiative and I met today my supervisor to whom I exposed my concerns and we agreed for him to look for some member of staff with a good expertise of social research questionnaire surveys. At least we'll know where I stand with regards of my survey work. I told him that in the worst case i.e. the survey is rubbish, I will submit for a MPhil as my data from my first study, 11 semi-structured interviews plus few open ended questionnaires, isn't enough for a PhD submission I believe, and I don't have nor the energy neither the career interest in going through another year of full time research to achieve a PhD which I would very likely not spend on the job market.
I will take a week or so off and I will think if I want to switch to a part-time status which would allow me more time for submission and it would give me space for some part time job. I will get out of this but it won't be easy nor quick....
I'll let you know what will happen: at least my story could be of some use for PhD students at an earlier stage....
Cheers

Sorry I copied and pasted the text from word and it seems that some words ended up being attached.

Hi All,
I will be try to be brief in explaining my situation and hopefully you'll beable to give me some advice.
I am towards the end of my PhD and I am struggling with depression, for which Iam receiving drug and speechtherapy.
My PhD has been going on for far too long,it was even transferred from one unito another. Unfortunately my current supervisory team does not have muchexpertise in social science and I feel to be weak in research methods skills. Icompleted my data collection but despite asking my supervisors to check over atthe time of my second study, a postal survey, I now realize that I didn't do agreat job with the questionnaire. I haven't done the full analysis yet but I amdreading to find out that the study is too flawed to return any meaningfulresult.
At the same time I really need to move on,funding has now expired and I will need a job soon. I have got about 43000words written but I still have to complete the work with the analysis andwriting up of this postal survey.
I worked in a couple of contracts as universityresearcher and I initially thought of making of academia my profession, but Ihave struggled all the way during my PhD and my research posts plus now I feel verylow and I don’t have any more motivation.
So the only reasonable thing, it seems tome to abandon my academic ambition for good and to apply for a full or parttime job outside of academia while finishing my PhD for the sake of it.
Unfortunately I haven’t the slightest clueof what I could do in the real world as most of my life was spent at Uni and Ihad otherwise insignificant job experiences (sales/admin), plus my researchfield is social science particularly environmental sociology, which doesn’treally get much application outside academia.

I'm in almost the same boat (I have never submitted yet). Just carrying on my PhD because I started it. I am sorry but I can't help, It's a very difficult choice and too personal to give any advice. Good luck! We need it.